The Lost, his first novel to be made into a movie achieved cult status after becoming a runaway success in theaters. With the increasing popularity of his novels, some of the novels were adapted into feature films. Ketchum’s books such as Peaceable Kingdom, Closing Time, and The Box have been honored with the Bram Stoker Award. However, The Girl Next Door is perfect for the reader who is looking for the suburban style narrative that takes one into hell. Pushing the boundaries of the classic horror story, this film is not one for anyone that is easily disturbed. In one of the longest introductions of a book ever written by King, he asserted that the film adaptation was one of the genuinely shocking American movies ever made since “Henry: Portrait of a Serial” came out over two decades ago. When he republished the novel as a special edition, he got King to write the preface. For instance, the Girl Next Door is based on the Sylvia Likens murder mystery of 1965. Unlike other horror novel writers, most of Ketchum’s work is inspired by true events. Confidential, Clive Barker’s Hellraiser and Thomas Harris’s The Silence of the Lambs. Ketchum’s work has been compared to the works of other authors such as James Ellroy’s L.A.

It is not the first time that Jack Ketchum has received such glowing tribute from King, as the two have since become fast friends with a mutual respect for each other’s work. According to King, Off Season completely changed the horror novel landscape in a way that nobody had ever done until Clive Barker. In fact, the book received extraordinary praise from none other than Stephen King at the 2003 National Book Awards. His first novel Off Season went on to receive widespread popularity and critical acclaim. Henry Miller invited the young Ketchum into his Pacific Palisades home, and soon after became his agent, helping him publish his first novel “Off Season”. He credits the chance acquaintance he made with Henry Miller while he was interning at the Scott Meredith Literary Agency as the turning point in his budding writing career.

As a teenager, he had the honor of meeting “Psycho” author, Robert Bloch, who would become his mentor and friend until his death in 1994. Born in Livingstone, NJ, Ketchum has worked as a lumber sales representative, a teacher, and actor before becoming a novelist. Jack Ketchum is the pen name of American horror novelist Dallas Mayr. Now Write! Science Fiction, Fantasy and HorrorĬhiral Mad 4: An Anthology of CollaborationsĪ New York State of Fright: Horror Stories from the Empire State Kindle Edition Mister October, Volume II - An Anthology in Memory of Rick Hautala

Psychos: Serial Killers, Depraved Madmen, and the Criminally Insane The Year's Best Fantasy and Horror: Fourteenth Annual Collection

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